


I Have Seen Many Worlds

by mysticanni



Category: Queen (Band), Smile (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Homesickness, Hopeful Ending, Interplanetary Travel, M/M, Prison, Smile (Band) Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29049654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticanni/pseuds/mysticanni
Summary: Tim is homesick for his home planet.
Relationships: Tim Staffell/Roger Taylor
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8
Collections: Tim Staffell Appreciation Weekend 2021





	I Have Seen Many Worlds

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt - Song: "Earth" by Smile

He had stolen a loaf of bread intending to share it with his friends because they were all hungry – past hungry really and sliding towards starving – but he had been caught and sentenced to five Earth years in the penal colony on Alpha Dain, working in one of the ruby mines there. 

Tim had quickly become accustomed to the routine – an alarm shrilled when it was time to get up. The prisoners showered then had breakfast – a thin tasteless gruel – then they donned their safety equipment – old and in a poor state of repair – and entered the cages that swung them down, down, down into the mine. They had one break per day down in the darkness when the supervisory robots doled out rations of a small cup of water and little portions of stale bread. A klaxon sounded when it was finally time to down tools and rise back up to the dark red dirt of the planet’s surface and trudge back to the prison block for another shower and another bowl of gruel before falling exhausted into their bunks.

It was a brutal routine. Few survived it. Tim clung to the thought of the tight-knit group of friends he had left behind on Earth. The thought of seeing them again kept him going. Rumours reached even this lonely outpost of the Empire. The rumours that arrived with staff changeover shuttles and new prisoners suggested that the cruel regime had been over-thrown and that Earth was kinder now. Tim hoped his friends were thriving there. 

The thought of hearing his friends singing and playing music in a pub kept him working through the aural assaults of the grinding of machinery and the clunking of picks and shovels deep in the mine. The thought of escaping into the countryside and seeing the blue of a sunny sky kept him sane as he worked in the stifling darkness deep in the ground. There was an end in sight. Once he had served his sentence he could go home. And so Tim became one of the lucky ones who survived. He reported to the prison chief’s office for discharge five Earth years after he had arrived on the prison shuttle.

The prison had few human staff. Tim had never seen the chief before and was surprised by how young he was. He wondered how old he himself now looked. The chief waved towards the chair on the other side of the desk he was sitting at. “Tim Staffell?” he checked. Tim nodded. “Have a seat.”

Tim sat down. The chief studied his notes. “Five Earth years for theft,” he read, “No disciplinary incidents while here.” He glanced up at Tim. “Congratulations, that means you are free to leave here. Only prisoners and staff can remain on Alpha Dain,” he added with a sigh, “so you will be taken by shuttle to Alpha Tiva. You should be able to find work there easily.”

Tim felt his mouth drop open. “I...I’m not going home?” he gulped. 

The chief laughed although it was a humourless sound. “None of us are going home,” he muttered. He cleared his throat. “No,” he stated, “If you want to return to Earth you must earn enough to pay your passage on one of the passenger space liners. Good luck with that.” His face softened a little. “I’m sorry,” he offered. He cleared his throat. “You will be provided with clothing and money to assist you following your initial arrival on Alpha Tiva. An adjustment officer will assist you.”

*

“May I buy you a drink?” someone asked as Tim sat staring at the melting ice in his glass.

Tim looked up and saw a pair of beautiful blue eyes the colour of one of Earth’s oceans. “Thank you,” he croaked. 

“What would you like?” blue-eyes asked.

“An Arc World gin with tonic please,” Tim requested, drinking in the beauty of the person next to him who had long blond hair and those big blue eyes. “I’m Tim,” he added. 

“Roger,” blue-eyes said. He slid on to the bar stool next to Tim and smiled sweetly at the robot behind the bar who whizzed over to take their order. Roger ordered two glasses of Arc World gin and tonic. “May I ask your home planet?”

“Earth,” Tim told him, unable to prevent himself from adding, “Your eyes are the colour of one of Earth’s oceans.”

Roger smiled at him. He had a beautiful smile. “I am originally from Angelis.”

Tim had never met anyone from Angelis before. He wondered if they were all as pretty as Roger. “What brings you to Beluzar?” he asked. 

“I’m a botanist,” Roger explained, “I’m studying the forests here. It’s fascinating. There are so many plants that are found nowhere else in this universe!” The robot set their drinks in front of them. They raised them and Roger chimed his glass against Tim’s. “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance. What brings you here?”

“I’ve been working in the timber yards,” Tim explained. He hesitated then told Roger about his prison sentence and how he was working to earn money for the passage back to Earth.

Roger gave him a sympathetic look. “I hear there was a revolution on your home planet,” he told Tim, “And that it is much improved now.”

Tim nodded. “Yeah, life is much better there now. I’d like to go home.” He sighed. “But passage on one of the passenger ships to Earth costs a fortune.”

“Where else have you worked?” Roger asked. 

Tim told him about working loading cargo onto goods shuttles docked above Alpha Tiva. He had then worked as crew on one of the goods shuttles which had taken him to Beta Ur. He had worked in one of the weaving sheds there. “I liked that,” he told Roger. “We’d sing as we worked our looms. It was hard work but there was a real community. I might have stayed there, happily, but they started to replace people with robots and it was time to move on.”

“I hear that isn’t going well for them,” Roger murmured, sipping his drink. “The robots don’t have the same lightness of touch as people.”

“A group of the weavers decided to go to Tor Bell,” Tim told Roger, “And I joined them.”

Roger’s eyes lit up. “You’ve been to Tor Bell?” he breathed. “Is it as beautiful as everyone says?”

Tim nodded. “It has marvellous beaches with fine pink sands and warm purple seas. I lived in a beach hut and caught fish, which are plentiful. I could have stayed there forever but...”

Roger nodded sadly. “The sickness?” he queried. 

Tim sighed. “Only one of my weaver friends survived it. We moved on to Kal 10.”

“That must have been a bit of a change,” Roger noted, his eyes wide.

“It was,” Tim agreed, “It’s a very industrial planet. They harness the power of their active volcanoes for energy.” He grinned. “I was making parts for the sort of passenger space ships I would like to travel on while I was there. I was employed by a huge Inter-Planetary company and they asked if I would come here to work in the timber yards for a while. They need workers who aren’t allergic to Eso bark and apparently I’m not.” Tim shrugged. “So here I am.”

“You’ve seen so many places,” Roger breathed. 

He had, Tim thought, but he still longed for home. He glanced out of the large window of the bar which had a good view over the tree tops towards the dark green sea which was currently illuminated by the two moons. It was pretty, but it wasn’t home.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” Roger murmured, following his gaze. “Did you leave a special someone behind when you were imprisoned?” he asked softly. 

Tim shook his head. “I didn’t have any family,” he muttered, “but I had good friends. I’d like to see them again. And I’d just like to see my planet again,” he continued, “I’d like to see turquoise seas and golden sand – blue skies and white clouds. I’d like to see Earth’s moon in the sky. I’d like to climb a hill and lie on my back on the green grass and feel Earth’s sun warm on my face.” He sighed.

“Maybe one day,” Roger murmured. “One day, you’ll be able to go home.”

“Maybe,” Tim agreed. He looked into Roger’s lovely blue eyes again and thought that until he could see one of Earth’s oceans again being with Roger might be just what he needed.


End file.
